


He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not

by Malevelynce



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Cute, Florist Hunk, Florists, M/M, Valentine's Day, Valentine's Day Fluff, pining lance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-15
Updated: 2018-02-15
Packaged: 2019-03-18 22:05:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,162
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13690761
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Malevelynce/pseuds/Malevelynce
Summary: Lance had intended to buy some roses for his mom, but instead ended up with a massive crush on the boy working at the flower shop. With Valentine's Day right around the corner, Lance isn't going to get a better time to confess.





	He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not

**Author's Note:**

> This piece is for the Hance Secret Valentine event on tumblr, written for Dmitri, tumblr @what-happens-in-purgatory  
> Happy Valentine's Day!

Originally, Lance had walked into the store with his eye on some pink roses he thought his mom would like, but as soon as he had taken three steps inside, his eyes strayed to something else. Or really he should say someone else. The boy behind the counter at the flower shop was beautiful. He had large, muscular arms and a defined chin that was enough to make Lance swoon. With the orange headband tied around his forehead and a matching apron tied around his waist, Lance knew he was in for some trouble.

“Excuse me, could you help me with something?” The words were out of his mouth before he could even think about what he was saying.

The boy behind the counter looked up and smiled. And that was the death blow. Sparkling with such life and mirth and general kindness, his smile shot Lance right through the heart. That was it. He was in love.

Sure, he’d always thought Love At First Sight™ as a stupid cliche found in Romeo and Juliet just so Shakespeare could justify killing kids to satisfy his own morbidity. But now Lance was starting to believe the whole thing (well, he probably wouldn’t kill himself over this boy yet, but you get the analogy).

Horrifyingly enough, it wasn’t until the boy was three feet away from him that he acutely remembered the small detail that he didn’t actually need help with anything.

“How can I help you, sir?” the boy asked politely, cocking his head to one side with wide eyes and a bright, helpful grin.

Lance let out a nervous bark of a laugh and scratched the back of his neck, trying to calm his racing thoughts. _What was he going to say? He had to say something, holy crow, he had to say something!_ “Roses!” He yelled, pointing dramatically at the pink roses he’d be eyeing for his mom as soon as he walked in. “Your opinion?”

“Oh, is it for a special someone?” A smile and a waggle of the eyebrows sent Lance into a tailspin. He immediately waved both of his hands in front of his face, his cheeks even redder than they were before, stammering.

Finally, Lance collected himself, swallowing hard. “Nope,” he let out a laugh, trying to find his cool. “Unless you count my mom as someone special.” Watching the way the boy’s eyes softened with his statement bolstered his confidence. “I was, uh, thinking the pink ones?”

“Well, pink roses symbolize beauty and charm, which could work for you mom, but they most often reflect a romantic love. So, I would recommend yellow roses which mean happiness and joyfulness. Other than roses, we have over here . . .” the boy went on to explain, his eyes lighting up as he swooned over the flowers, pointing to a premade bouquet of yellow roses before charging halfway across the store to present Lance with sixty other options for his bouquet.

Shaking fingers, Lance grabbed for the bouquet with yellow roses while he tried to sound suave as he replied, “It’s really cool that you know the meanings of all the flowers.” But instead of suave, he was pretty sure it came out a little more lovesick, his voice breathy and nervous. “You--uh, haha, I think I’ll take these.”

“I’ll ring you up over here,” he told Lance with a smile that melted his heart.

Lance restrained himself from asking for the boy’s name, feeling irrational agitation rising in his blood while he mulled over the fact that the boy wasn’t wearing a name tag. Nonetheless, as he walked out of the store with the bouquet wrapped up in his arms, the boy called out a “Thank you!” that left Lance an embarrassed mess. He was glad for the wind in his face as he stumbled out of the store, cooling his flushed cheeks.

~ ~ ~

It was painful, to say the least, every time he passed by the flower shop on his way from work, temptation itching in his fingertips to walk into the store. It was a careless fascination, a stupid flutter in the back of his heart. It was stupid to stop himself from marching right in and asking for the boy’s number, but he knew in the back of his mind that Valentine’s Day was coming up. Obviously, that didn’t really influence his decision of whether or not he would confess, but it was a notion he just couldn’t seem to shake.

But after a full week since his first visit into the shop, he realized that he shouldn’t have to wait for Valentine’s Day to see the boy again. Plus, a week was more than enough time between visiting the Altean Blooms Flower Shop, right? It’s not weird to want to restock on your flower supply weekly, right? It was just a casual visit.

That’s what he kept repeating to himself as he sauntered inside. Well, he attempted to saunter, but it was probably closer to a stumble than anything else. He could use a small plant for under his bedroom window, right? A cute flower in a fun pot or something like that would be good.

Trying to be as inconspicuous as possible, Lance traced around, sticking his nose into all the flowers he dared to sniff and calculating what would be the best time to casually shoot a glance over his shoulder. Lance hadn’t forgotten what the boy at the flower shop looked like, not even a little bit, but he was still undeniably breathtaking. It didn’t matter than he was scribbling something down on a notepad on the desk, his brow furrowed in concentration. Nor did it matter than his hair was fluffed up in too many directions for the style to be purposeful. He was still beautiful.

After the glance over his shoulder settled a little too long to be considered a glance, Lance whipped his head back around, trying to find a plant that he could buy. It was a ploy, solely as a means to engage in a conversation that most likely wouldn’t land him with a coffee date anytime soon, but a guy could dream.

After he had wasted enough time “trying to figure what to buy”, he decided it was prime time to be as indecisive as he possibly could. So he picked up a pretty pink flower with a long stem and a small pot of several shoots of what he thought were blue daisies.

“I’m at an impasse,” Lance stated louder than he had intended, plopping the two flowers onto the counter with a very artificial look on his face as he attempted to seem concerned. And of course, as the boy looked up at him, Lance’s carefully created expression crumbled.

Chocolate brown eyes stared back at him with open curiosity and his heart came to a stuttered stop in his chest. As Lance’s heart attempted to restart it’s regularly-scheduled program, the boy hummed as he took both of the options into account, picking up the pot of daisies with a small, warm smile.

Pursing his lips, the boy looked back at Lance. “Well, the daisy symbolizes purity and new beginnings while the orchid means love, luxury, and strength.” He took his lip between his teeth and passed his gaze from one flower to the other, absolutely abolishing any hope of Lance’s heart getting back into a healthy rhythm. “You’ve got two pretty different options here, and, uh, pretty different prices too.” The boy sent a small worried brow at Lance, who shook himself out of his thoughts to realize what the boy was saying.

“Wait how much are they?” As a senior in high school working after school most days as a barista at the starbucks down the street, he didn’t have a lot of money to blow on some flowers just to get this boy’s number.

Hunk checked on the underside of the plants, lifting them high in the air to avoid dumping out soil (which is totally something Lance would have done). “The pink orchid is $44.99 and the blue daisy planter is $9.99, sir,” the boy informed with a smile and a suppressed laugh.

With a dropped jaw, Lance blinked several times, processing the fact that he had actually picked up (and almost purchased) a $45 plant for a cute boy he was developing feelings for. He thanked the heavens the boy had told him, or else it would have been very awkward. “Well, the blue daisies it is then!”

The boy let out a laugh and nodded, ringing up the small flower pot with a smile and a shake of his head, his dark hair sweeping across his forehead. Embarrassed, Lance grabbed the orchid off the counter and placed it gently back with its brothers and sisters on the shelf, amazed at how the expensive plants could be right next to ones that were ten bucks.

As he paid, he worked up the courage to ask the boy for at least his name, feeling the words begin to blossom in the back of his throat. Grabbing the daisies from him, Lance looked deep into his eyes and let a charming smile slide onto his lips. “Can I have your name? So, uh, I can give you the best review ever on yelp?”

 _What. An. Idiot._ So he could give him a review on yelp? What the actual hell was he thinking?

But as the smile made its way onto the boy’s face, Lance felt himself calm down a bit, overjoyed that he hadn’t immediately balked at the horrifying statement that had just slipped out of Lance’s mouth.

The boy’s laugh was awkward and strained to say the least as he looked off to the side, but his smile seemed to blossom out of nothing but happiness as he replied, “I’m Hunk.”

His smile was so warm it instantly brought a flush to Lance’s cheeks, unbelievably happy that he had managed to get the question out, no matter how awkward. With a nod, “I’m Lance, be on the lookout for that review, okay?”

And by the ancients, Lance winked. He didn’t even mean to. It just sort of _happened_.

As fast as he could, he was out of the store, back pressed against the brick beside the window, breathing heavily, his entire face red. He could not believe he’d just done that. Winked at a boy he liked. The boy he barely knew. Hunk. A smile broke out across his lips. His name was Hunk.

~ ~ ~

 **Yelp Review by:** Lance Loves Flowers

_WOW! Hunk at the Altean Blooms flower shop is by far the best employee I’ve ever met! He’s superb and speedy in answering all of my questions and checking me out. Want to know what a flower means? Hunk’s your guy!! You’ll never see me in any other flower shop but this one!_

 

~ ~ ~

Unfortunately, by the time another week had passed, Lance really did have necessity to go back into the flower shop. His poor tiny pot of blue daisies had died sitting on his windowsill. As soon as he had placed it there, he had forgotten about it. So, the next time he had looked at them (five days later), all the blossoms had fallen off and the leaves were shriveled.

So the next time he walked by the flower shop, he took a deep breath and walked in. This was the first time that he’d been in the shop while another customer was also there. And this old lady was taking up all of Hunk’s attention as she bickered about which watering can would be best for her gardenias.

Lance figured he had some time to kill before this woman left the store and he could once again present him with two options of flowers to get. But this time, he felt a responsibility to keep the poor plant alive, especially since Hunk was the one to help him pick it out.

As he spent his time perusing the variety of small potted flowers, he actually found himself stuck between two flowers to buy. In his left hand he held a cute pot of blue forget me not flowers and a slightly bigger pot of yellow pansies. And he nearly dropped both of them as Hunk’s voice rang out from behind him, “Need any help, sir?”

With a wide smile and an ashamed laugh, he nodded. “Well, uh, you see, I was trying to decide between these two little guys.” He looked around and saw that the old lady had left. Assuming he was too preoccupied with his flowers, he didn’t even hear the bells on the door jingle as the woman left.

Hunk let out an adorable laugh that melted Lance’s heart. “Well, these two are certainly closer together in meaning than last week, that’s for sure.” Lance could scarcely comprehend that this boy had actually remembered him and the two flowers he had tried to pick between the last time he was here.

“Forget me nots obviously mean true love and holding someone in your heart for a long, long time. Similarly, pansies symbolize remembrance, and that you think of someone a lot, which could either mean a loved one who’s passed away, or one that you cherish very much,” Hunk told him with a smile. And Lance was extremely aware of his staring, but he simply couldn’t stop.

Biting his lip, Lance looked down at the two plants in his hands. “I really have no idea which one to choose this time,” he relinquished.

“If it were me, I’d go with the pansies, but that’s just because yellow is my favorite color.” The way Hunk’s face nearly split in two with such a large grin as he explained himself, as if it were childish to pick a flower because you like the color. No matter what, it was still freaking adorable.

Holy shit, if Lance could give this boy the world, he’d do it in a heartbeat.

“Pansies it is then,” Lance declared, dropping the forget me nots back onto the shelf and following Hunk over to the counter to check out. “Can I ask you the best way to keep this poor little guy alive? Yeah, uh, my daisies didn’t last the week . . .”

Hunk let out a small laugh as he scanned the pansies and placed them back down, tapping at the register. “For pansies? I’m pretty sure it’s once a day, especially when they’re this fresh. Keep them in plenty of sunlight and away from the heater. If you take really good care of them, you might need to transplant them into a larger pot in a few months.” Lance nodded, absorbing the information with determination to keep these flowers alive.

“Thank you so much, Hunk!” Lance told him with a sweet smile.

A smile in return. His eyes got a little scrunchy in just the right way as his dark hair fell into his eye a little bit, cutely. “Thank you, Lance.”

And he was once again rushing out of the store, a flush coating his cheeks. His thoughts were spinning with everything Hunk had told him, every smile, every warm laugh ringing in his ears as he walked home. _Hunk remembered my name! He remembered me and my name! Hunk remembered me!_ He knew damn well that those pansies would live into next week, and regardless, he was going to be back in that flower shop sooner rather than later.

~ ~ ~

The pansies were thriving on his windowsill, and similar to their meaning, Hunk had been in Lance’s thoughts. And it was those thoughts that drove him into the shop once again. It had been a month since Lance first went into that flower shop, if he was counting correctly. To put the cherry on top, it was Valentine’s Day.

Far too excited than he should be, Lance walked in and made direct eye contact with Hunk behind the counter. “Hey, Hunk,” he greeted, feigning shame at presumably killing the pansies, giving him motive other than some stupid crush.

Looking up from whatever he was doing, a small smile crossed his lips. “You managed to kill the pansies, huh?”

Without actually answering, Lance simply smiled and scratched the back of his head as he tried not to let his heart race as Hunk’s laugh echoed like sweet wind chimes throughout the store. “You might want to try a succulent or a cactus, Lance. They’re known for being heard to kill,” he said, coming around from behind the counter to lead Lance to the proper section of the store.

Just as Lance opened up his mouth to ask about a cute little cactus right in front of him, the bells on the door jingled, meaning someone had just come in. Lance turned to see a man in a suit pluck the nearest bouquet from the Valentine’s display and start screaming for someone to help him as he sprinted to the counter, obviously in a rush.

Hunk shot Lance a sympathetic glance and hurried over to the counter, leaving Lance with his thoughts and a bunch of cacti. There was nothing Lance wanted more than to go on a date with Hunk. He would be lying to say Lance hadn’t thought about asking Hunk out on Valentine’s, because how cute is that? And seeing Hunk being all cute and adorable just being _himself_ , well, there wasn’t much else he could think about. Lance could listen to hours of Hunk talk about nothing while staring into his gorgeous eyes.

As the man sprinted out of the store with the bouquet, Hunk walked back over to Lance, who hadn’t even looked at the damn plants while he was thinking through a maybe semi-formed plan of attack. “Okay! Where were we? Right, right, you killed both the daisies and the pansies, so I suggested succulents or cacti, right?” His eyes were bright and welcoming as he smiled at Lance. “Hopefully you won’t have to be in here every week if you get one of these guys, huh?”

“I--well, you see--that’s not, uh that’s not quite why I’m in here every week . . .” Lance started, looking down at his hands as he played with his fingers nervously. Feeling Hunk’s confused eyes on him, he squeezed his eyes shut and took in a deep breath. Lance picked up the small cactus he’d been looking at; it had a small wooden sign with the words “BE MINE” etched into it. Thrusting the cactus out toward Hunk, Lance nervously asked with a small grin, “Will you be my Valentine?”

The first emotion Lance saw on Hunk’s face was shock, and then happiness seemed to grow as his smile blossomed on his face. His eyes crinkled and all Lance could think about was seeing him smile a million times could never be enough. Eyes bright and warm, Hunk responded with a light laugh filled with admiration, “I would love that, Lance.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! This is my first hance piece and I can gladly say it won't be my last (I love these boys way too much)  
> Comments mean the world to me, so feel free to leave one or message me personally on my tumblr @twohundrednine !  
> Shout out to my amazing beta @communikate , she's got some pretty cool stuff posted of her own, so you should definitely go check her out  
> Happy Valentine's Day <3


End file.
